FALL
****
Director: Scott Mann
Screenplay: Scott Mann and Jonathan Frank
Principal cast:
Grace Caroline Currey
Virginia Gardner
Mason Gooding
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jasper Cole
Darrell Dennis
Country: USA/ UK
Classification: M
Runtime: 107 mins.
Australian release date: 22 September 2022.
In his adrenalin-charged, vertigo-inducing movie Fall, British director Scott Mann (The Tournament - 2009 and Heist - 2015) has delivered a thoroughly terrifying 107-minute white-knuckle thrill-ride. That’s a lot of hyphenated adjectives but the film deserves every one of them. Largely set on a small ledge on top of a 2,000-foot-high abandoned TV tower in the middle of the Mojave Desert (that’s just over 600 metres tall – yikes!), this predominately two-handed drama will either thrill you or chill you, depending on whether or not you’ve got a head for heights.
In a pre-credit sequence, we watch a trio of climbers scale a vertiginous cliff face when a terrible accident occurs. Then, as the opening titles roll, we learn that, 51 weeks later, one of those climbers, Becky Connor (Grace Caroline Currey), is still in the grip of an on-going malaise caused by the tragic events of that day. Since the accident, she has turned to alcohol for solace and refused to communicate with anyone, particularly her concerned father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan from The Walking Dead TV series). One day the doorbell rings and one of her climbing companions from the cliff, Shiloh Hunter (Virginia Gardner), known as ‘Hunter’, proposes that Becky join her in scaling the abandoned TV tower B67, as a way of getting the suffering woman to face her demons. Hunter is an Instagram influencer who goes by the handle of ‘Danger D’ and she also wants to post the experience for her followers to see. Becky accepts the challenge but, as the women make the ascent, it becomes evident that they have a long history and something is not quite right between them. Something is not quite right with the tower either and, like the girls’ relationship, it soon starts to break down.
Mann and his co-writer set out to write the scariest movie about heights that they possibly could, referring to other dramas like Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and the documentary Free Solo, and they’ve met their goal. Mann says, “There’s a psychological fear I think we all go through at heights. Even a lot of climbing videos on the internet tap into that well. It's the reaction, the ‘Oh my God, oh my God’ that influenced how Fall would eventually play out. From an experiential point of view, you've got to put yourself through the eyes of the character, be with them, and then you climb it with them. So, you've done it together. What we wanted to get was a feeling of being raw and real at height and very human. So that was the backbone of it all.” It was filmed in the IMAX format in California's Mojave Desert and the location is stunning. It has a stark, severe beauty that suits the on-screen action. The use of drone camerawork makes this remoteness even more apparent and, as Mann intended, has the effect of placing the audience on the unsteady platform with the two women. Currey and Gardner give convincing performances as strong characters who are intelligent and capable, but who recognise the dangers they are facing, especially when Becky says, “This is sick, what are you getting us in to?” as they commence their vertiginous climb.
Fall certainly has its scary moments; my palms were sweating for most of the film’s duration. It follows a theme currently prevalent in movies about living life to the fullest and making the most of our allotted time on Earth. A post-Covid reaction, perhaps? If you are looking for a genuine piece of escapism, Fall ticks all the boxes of an impressive, low-budget B-movie, despite some flaws. Try to see it on the largest screen possible.
Screenplay: Scott Mann and Jonathan Frank
Principal cast:
Grace Caroline Currey
Virginia Gardner
Mason Gooding
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jasper Cole
Darrell Dennis
Country: USA/ UK
Classification: M
Runtime: 107 mins.
Australian release date: 22 September 2022.
In his adrenalin-charged, vertigo-inducing movie Fall, British director Scott Mann (The Tournament - 2009 and Heist - 2015) has delivered a thoroughly terrifying 107-minute white-knuckle thrill-ride. That’s a lot of hyphenated adjectives but the film deserves every one of them. Largely set on a small ledge on top of a 2,000-foot-high abandoned TV tower in the middle of the Mojave Desert (that’s just over 600 metres tall – yikes!), this predominately two-handed drama will either thrill you or chill you, depending on whether or not you’ve got a head for heights.
In a pre-credit sequence, we watch a trio of climbers scale a vertiginous cliff face when a terrible accident occurs. Then, as the opening titles roll, we learn that, 51 weeks later, one of those climbers, Becky Connor (Grace Caroline Currey), is still in the grip of an on-going malaise caused by the tragic events of that day. Since the accident, she has turned to alcohol for solace and refused to communicate with anyone, particularly her concerned father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan from The Walking Dead TV series). One day the doorbell rings and one of her climbing companions from the cliff, Shiloh Hunter (Virginia Gardner), known as ‘Hunter’, proposes that Becky join her in scaling the abandoned TV tower B67, as a way of getting the suffering woman to face her demons. Hunter is an Instagram influencer who goes by the handle of ‘Danger D’ and she also wants to post the experience for her followers to see. Becky accepts the challenge but, as the women make the ascent, it becomes evident that they have a long history and something is not quite right between them. Something is not quite right with the tower either and, like the girls’ relationship, it soon starts to break down.
Mann and his co-writer set out to write the scariest movie about heights that they possibly could, referring to other dramas like Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and the documentary Free Solo, and they’ve met their goal. Mann says, “There’s a psychological fear I think we all go through at heights. Even a lot of climbing videos on the internet tap into that well. It's the reaction, the ‘Oh my God, oh my God’ that influenced how Fall would eventually play out. From an experiential point of view, you've got to put yourself through the eyes of the character, be with them, and then you climb it with them. So, you've done it together. What we wanted to get was a feeling of being raw and real at height and very human. So that was the backbone of it all.” It was filmed in the IMAX format in California's Mojave Desert and the location is stunning. It has a stark, severe beauty that suits the on-screen action. The use of drone camerawork makes this remoteness even more apparent and, as Mann intended, has the effect of placing the audience on the unsteady platform with the two women. Currey and Gardner give convincing performances as strong characters who are intelligent and capable, but who recognise the dangers they are facing, especially when Becky says, “This is sick, what are you getting us in to?” as they commence their vertiginous climb.
Fall certainly has its scary moments; my palms were sweating for most of the film’s duration. It follows a theme currently prevalent in movies about living life to the fullest and making the most of our allotted time on Earth. A post-Covid reaction, perhaps? If you are looking for a genuine piece of escapism, Fall ticks all the boxes of an impressive, low-budget B-movie, despite some flaws. Try to see it on the largest screen possible.
